Following is a brief description of the program, Did Goering Have It Right? and a bio of our speaker, Mark Gerzon.

TOPIC: Did Goering Have It Right?
 Hermann Goering, Adolf Hitler’s right-hand man, explained that, even though most people don’t want war, “it is always a simple matter to drag the people along.” It is “easy” to command obedience “in any country,” Goering explained: “All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.”

Please join me in exploring why this trauma-based strategy still works and how Rotary can be part of the antidote to this poisonous kind of leadership. We will also discuss our project Better Together America and how Rotary, a current partner, can play an even greater role in strengthening communities in America.

BIO:  Mark Gerzon, president and founder of Mediators Foundation, has specialized in leadership that bridges divides. As an experienced facilitator in high-conflict zones, he has advised a wide variety of organizations including the US Congress, multinational corporations, and the United Nations Development Program. He is also a leading author of books in the field of conflict transformation, including A House Divided (1996), Leading Through Conflict (2006) and Global Citizens (2010), and the forthcoming American PTSD: Transforming Our Trauma and Reclaiming Our Future,

He co-designed and served as the head facilitator for the US Bipartisan Congressional Retreats in the late 1990s, and has spent the following years participating in a wide variety of efforts to deepen dialogue across the political spectrum. This work led to his most recent book The Reunited States of America, which inspired the film The Reunited States, now playing on Amazon Prime.

Mark lives with his wife Melissa in Boulder, Colorado, and has three sons and eight grandchildren.

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